Moskovskiye Okna
Moscow Windows, Московские окна
A very popular contemporary Russian urban romance, appreciated by jazz performers. In the end of the 1950s, the prominent Soviet movie producer, Grigory Alexandrov came to Barvikha, a sanatorium near Moscow, to meet the famous Soviet composer, Tikhon Khrennikov, who had already been the Composer`s Union chairperson for a long time.
Aleksandrov asked him to compose a new hit song for his wife, the Soviet movie star Lubov Orlova, who would perform it in the new movie "Russian Souvenir". The producer planned the film to be his last one. Khrennikov agreed and soon composed the melody, after his returning to Moscow. |
However, as the chairperson, he had to go abroad for a while and could not proceed working on the music for the movie. He offered the work on the movie to another composer, Kirill Molchanov, who agreed. Khrennikov forgot about the melody, but the Soviet popular singer, Leonid Utesov, asked him for a new song soon. The composer recalled the melody, composed for Orlova. Utesov came and listened to the piano melody without words. He liked the song and suggested to call the poet Mikhail Matusovsky. The poet came, made the first rhythmic draft, and next day the words were ready. The poet recollected that he always felt easy to work with Khrennikov for the friendly environment he created. After Matusovsky found the "pillar phrase", as he called it, he understood that the text will turn out successfully. He regarded the phrase «Он мне дорог с давних лет, и его яснее нет, московских окон негасимый свет» (I`ve enjoyed it all the time, the eternal light of mine, the Moscow city windows` bright shine) as the key phrase that became the pillar of the whole song for him.
The first performance by Leonid Utesov, a good jazz arrangement, stood not popular for many years. The reasons are unclear, but it is generally thought that Utesov`s manner of performance had gone out of fashion to the time when he performed the song. Now it regains some popularity as a retro piece. The person who revitalized the song, was the Soviet songstress Irina Brzhevskaya, who included the newly arranged song in her repertoire in 1960. Her earliest available video recording of the song dates March 1962.
In 1964 with the song she became the laureate of the International Popular Song Festival in Dresden, accompanied by the Yuri Silantiev`s orchestra.
The first performance by Leonid Utesov, a good jazz arrangement, stood not popular for many years. The reasons are unclear, but it is generally thought that Utesov`s manner of performance had gone out of fashion to the time when he performed the song. Now it regains some popularity as a retro piece. The person who revitalized the song, was the Soviet songstress Irina Brzhevskaya, who included the newly arranged song in her repertoire in 1960. Her earliest available video recording of the song dates March 1962.
In 1964 with the song she became the laureate of the International Popular Song Festival in Dresden, accompanied by the Yuri Silantiev`s orchestra.
After Irina Brzhevskaya, other singers started to perform the song: Muslim Magomaev, Mikhail Novokhizhin. The famous Georg Ots sang it in the Finnish translation. Now the remastered text is sung in Finland and Estonia, in their languages, telling about the windows of Tallinn, the Estonian capital. Among the Russian performances, the prominent one belongs to the Aleksandrov Ensemble. The song has become a very well known and loved composition in Russia.
The song has given the name for a commercial company, a radio programme and different public festivals held in Moscow on special occasions. In fact it has become a hashtag for the Russian Internet pictures with the night windows of the Moscow apartment houses. It is also popular as a ringtone in the mobile phones. The Russian President Vladimir Putin has performed the melody on the piano in public himself several times, once abroad in China while waiting for the meeting. The students choir of the National Research Nuclear University (MEPhI, Moscow) performed the song being accompanied by Putin. A multiseries movie "Moscow Windows" was caught in 2001 saying about the ordinary people`s life in Moscow of 1960s. The instrumental versions and Utesov`s performance were included in the movie.
Among the Russian performers of the song are: the Belorussian "Pesnyary" ensemble, Ludmila Gurchenko, Oleg Pogudin, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Valery Syutkin , and others. The song is also performed by ordinary people as a drinking song, as it says about the kind human feelings, about love. The song is also popular in foreign restaurants as a typical Russian song, in Paris, for instance. |
Irina Brzhevskaya performs "Moscow Windows"
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There are several accordion arrangements of the song as it is a popular jazz composition allowing accordion performance or accompaniment. The main ones are by E. Derbenko, A. Belyaev, V. Popolzin. SCORE
Russian text:
Вот опять небес темнеет высь, Вот и окна в сумраке зажглись. Здесь живут мои друзья, И, дыханье затая, В ночные окна вглядываюсь я. Я могу под окнами мечтать, Я могу, как книги, их читать, И, заветный свет храня, И волнуя, и маня, Они, как люди, смотрят на меня. Я, как в годы прежние, опять Под окном твоим готов стоять, И на свет его лучей Я всегда спешу быстрей, Как на свиданье с юностью моей. Я любуюсь вами по ночам, Я желаю, окна, счастья вам… Он мне дорог с давних лет, И его яснее нет -- Московских окон негасимый свет. |
Transliteration:
Vot opyat nebes temneet vys, Vot i okna v sumrake zazhglis. Zdes zhivut moi druzya, I dyhane zataya, V nochnye okna vglyadyvayus ya. Ya mogu pod oknami mechtat, Ya mogu kak knigi ih chitat, I zavetnyj svet hranya, I volnuya, i manya, Oni, kak lyudi, smotryat na menya. Ya, kak v gody prezhnie, opyat Pod oknom tvoim gotov stoyat, I na svet ego luchej Ya vsegda speshu bystrej, Kak na svidane s yunostyu moej. Ya lyubuyus vami po nocham, Ya zhelayu okna schastya vam... On mne dorog s davnih let, I ego yasnee net -- Moskovskih okon negasimyj svet. |
English text:
And again the sky gets high and dark. And the windows begin to spark. My best friends are living here, Holding breath and standing near, Into the nightly windows I peer. Under the bright windows I dream, Like the books I can read their gleam, They preserve the cherished light, Stirring up my keen delight, Like people, they`ve got their deep insight. I agree, like in the past, again, To stay neath your window glass fain, And, attracted with its rays, I walk faster all my days, For the date with my youth escapes delays. I adore the windows anights, I wish you to keep your happy lights... I`ve enjoyed it all the time, The eternal light of mine -- The Moscow city windows` bright shine. Translation by Alexander |
Sources:
http://archive.svoboda.org/programs/ftf/2005/ftf.022705.asp ;
http://byretr.narod.ru/song.html ;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Хренников,_Тихон_Николаевич ;
http://lit.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200202007 ; https://ria.ru/tv_politics/20170514/1494258815.html ;
https://lenta.ru/news/2014/01/22/mephi/ ;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Бржевская,_Ирина_Сергеевна
http://archive.svoboda.org/programs/ftf/2005/ftf.022705.asp ;
http://byretr.narod.ru/song.html ;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Хренников,_Тихон_Николаевич ;
http://lit.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200202007 ; https://ria.ru/tv_politics/20170514/1494258815.html ;
https://lenta.ru/news/2014/01/22/mephi/ ;
https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Бржевская,_Ирина_Сергеевна